Rutt Consulting Articles

Windows 7 First Impressions

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Windows® 7 System Requirements

1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1GB RAM (32-bit) / 2GB RAM (64-bit)
16GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX® 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

The Hardware

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 Ghz (Conroe)
Motherboard: Intel DP35DP (3 series)
Memory: Corsair 2x2 (4 GB) DDR2 800 SDRAM
Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150 GB SATA 1.5 Gb/s
Video: Gigabyte GV-NX72G512P1 GeForce 7200 GS 128MB 32-bit GDDR2 PCI-e x16
+ HIS H925H256RPN-R Radeon 9250 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI
Monitors: Samsung SyncMaster 171v, Samsung SyncMaster 730B, Acer V173

Overall

Pros

Pretty
Fast
Uses all 4 GB of my RAM

Cons

Did not support my two video cards simultaneously (worked fine in XP)

The Install

The installation did not take very long and was extremely easy to go through. I was up and running in no time. The only thing to watch out here for is ensuring you're using the right version of Windows. For example, if you have 4 GB or more of RAM, make sure you're not installing the 32-bit version of Windows because then you can only use 3 GB of it. If you have 4GB+ of RAM, install the 64-bit version to take advantage of all of your memory.

Hardware Support

I have lukewarm feelings about hardware support. All of my hardware was bought within the last two years brand new. Everything worked except multiple monitors (3+). The main culprit appears to be that the ATI Radeon 9250 does not have Windows 7 drivers available and thus will not work on Windows 7. So I went ahead and bought a new eVGA 512-P1-N402-LR GeForce 6200 512 MB PCI card to compliment my GeForce 7200 PCI-e x16. Oops, that didn't work either! The error I got in Device Manager was that my motherboard did not have updated firmware to support the configuration (error 35). No matter what I did, whether it was playing with BIOS settings PCI-e/PCI, update drivers, etc. I could not get a PCI-e x16 card to work with a PCI video card at the same time with Windows 7. Perhaps driver updates or firmware will fix this going forward. All I know is that this configuration worked just fine in Windows XP. That said, I went ahead and bought a 2nd eVGA PCI card and I'm confident that will work, however the PCI cards are slower than the PCI-e x16 cards so my "aero" Windows 7 experience rating will be lower and thus, Windows will feel slower for me. So if I want an optimized fast system, I will need to purchase a new motherboard that supports two PCI-e x16, and an additional PCI-e x16 video card. That's a lot to swallow for just installing a new operating system. Most people use two or less monitors so this will not be an issue for most. I am just documenting the troubles I had to save others the time and money of trying endless cards. If you are planning on building a system for Windows 7, I'd recommend purchasing a motherboard that has multiple PCI-e x16 slots to avoid the problems I faced.

The Experience

I have to say, overall I am very pleased with Windows 7 64-bit. Things are very zippy. The network performance issues that plagued Vista are gone. File copies are extremely fast. The Aero interface is very sleek. I also love the subtle tools they've included that aren't advertised very much like the snipping tool, sticky notes, updated calculator, etc.

The new taskbar takes some getting used to but after a couple weeks I am feeling comfortable with it and I'm quickly becoming a fan. There are subtle improvements here that make all the difference. For example, you can now mouse over an open program in the taskbar and get a preview of the windows open in that program! Very cool.

To sum up the experience, there's nothing earth-shattering here. However, there's many subtle improvements that make Windows 7 better. Not having to download a multi-monitor tool because you can now drag windows to the top of another monitor and it'll automatically maximize, shaking windows to minimize all other windows, previewing open programs, etc. all start to add up in terms of productivity.

A separate post on Windows 7 features (with screenshots) is coming soon! Stay tuned.

What do you think about Windows 7? Comments are open!

Firefox Personas

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Firefox is probably the most innovative browser available today. With features such as plug-ins, themes, extensions, Firefox is becoming very relevant in the browser space. Well now they've added a new feature to the mix called "Personas for Firefox." It is a free extension that allows you to style up your web browser. Finally, no more boring look and feel! There are styles for sports, music, and even fashion. Check out these screenshots and feel free to download it if you like near the bottom of this post.

Get Personas

Microsoft Security Essentials (Antivirus) Released

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Microsoft is on a roll. With Windows 7 on the horizon, Microsoft has released a free anti-malware software called Microsoft Security Essentials. It's right on cue. This is to compete with the likes of AVG, Avast, etc. Microsoft has gotten a reputation in the past for being insecure. Offering this free security software is a bold move to try to boost its security reputation. So here's the breakdown.

Pros

Very easy to use
Extremely affordable (it's free)
You can even use it in a small home-based business
Lightweight (installer and memory footprint is approx 4 MB)
Works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7

Cons

Not well-established, do not know how secure it really is yet
Could significantly hurt competition in the antivirus space

Conclusion

I feel this is a great program for the average home user. It is simple, fast, and hopefully secure. I feel that if you are not overly concerned with the best security and just want something easy to use, go for it! If you are tech savvy and want to give it a shot yourself, just remember to uninstall any other antivirus programs before installing a new one. You don't need multiple antivirus programs slowing down your computer.

Download it

Facebook Fan Check is Not a Virus

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:56:00 +0000

I've read a lot of people that were concerned that the Facebook Fan Check application is a virus and I wanted to assure everyone that as of now, it is not a virus. However, if you Google Facebook Fan check, it is very likely you will get a virus! Hackers want you to believe that it's a virus and they want you to google it, download their software to remove it and ultimately GIVE you a virus. Clever eh? Ugh.

In conclusion, it's not a virus but don't go trying to download software to remove it. I personally stay away from Facebook applications because I do not know or trust the authors of the applications with my profile information.

What do you think about Facebook applications?

Facebook Lite Released

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Facebook Lite is just as it sounds. A stripped down Facebook. Don't like apps? This is the version for you!

Check it out!

http://lite.facebook.com

Guide: Creating a Facebook Business Page

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:22:00 +0000

Facebook has emerged as the most popular social networking site as of December 2008. It surpassed MySpace in unique visitors and it continues to grow. If you're reading this, you probably have a Facebook account. It is a great way to share photos, videos, and little nuggets of info about yourself to your friends and family. The question is, how can your business utilize Facebook?

Putting your business up on Facebook has its advantages and disadvantages. The largest advantage is probably getting your name out there. It's another avenue to advertise your business. It's probably one of the best ways considering its unique visitors is currently at 123 million. The downside to having a Facebook page is that it's another place to update information. Most businesses' information does not change from day to day though so this is probably a minor upfront inconvenience. So, if you've decided to create a page for your business, read on my friend.

Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php OR go to Facebook.com and find the "Create a Page" link after signing out from Facebook. See the screenshot below:
On the "Create New Facebook Page" screen, choose a category that best fits your business, type in the name of your business, check that you're authorized to create this page and type in your full name (the same name you registered your Facebook account under). Click [Create Page]
If you do not already have a Facebook account, you will need to create one by choosing "I do not have a Facebook account" and entering your information. If you already have a Facebook account, choose "I already have a Facebook account" and enter your Email address and password for Facebook and click [Login].
Okay, your page has been created! Not so bad huh? Now we need to polish things up a bit by adding useful information for your visitors, a picture, etc. Lets continue.
On the "Info" tab, click "Edit Information"
Enter in any relevant information that your visitors may find useful and click [Save Changes]
Click "Write something about [Your Company]" on the left to write a little blurb that visitors will see under your company picture.
Click "Edit Page" on the left. From this screen you can change a multitude of options for your page. I recommend leaving defaults for the most part but feel free to look around and tweak as necessary. The next step is very important. We need to publish your page so that others can see it and become fans!
Click "publish this page" near the top right.
You'll probably want to add a picture, you can do this by mousing over the big question mark where your picture will go and clicking "Change Picture."
Once you're happy with your page, you can suggest it to your friends and family. You can do this by clicking "Suggest to Friends" on the left. If you do not see this option, your page may not be published. Click "Edit Page" and find the publish link (see screenshot in step 9).

That's it! You now have a Facebook page for your business. Let the business roll in! Feel free to post any questions you may have. Good luck!

Gmail Just Got Better

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:23:00 +0000

As if Gmail couldn't get any better, it has now unveiled "Send mail as" in a professional configuration. This gets rid of the "on behalf of gmail" designation that showed up when people received mail from you. This is useful to those folks who have their own mail domains that want to use Gmail. So now no one has to know that you're using Gmail to organize all your mail in one spot and make it accessible via the web.

Here's how to do it.

Log into Gmail
Click "Settings" at the top right
Click the "Accounts" tab
Click "Add e-mail address you own"
Type in the desired name and e-mail address
Click "Next Step"
Choose "Send through SMTP servers..." <-- Key step!
Enter your SMTP server (i.e. mail.domain.com)
Select the SMTP port your server supports
Enter your username
Enter your password
Click "Add Account"

You're done! Enjoy the seamless bliss of everything in Gmail.

Source: Gmail Help

Free Live Events (Windows 7)

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The headline is "Attend the free event, take home Windows 7" Cool! Designed for IT professionals including special developer sessions, you can attend the event to learn, network, and get a free copy of Windows 7. What version we'll get is unclear but who cares as long as it's Professional or higher! :-) It's normally $300+ for a full copy.

Only problem is that it's not everywhere. Only select major cities. It's great marketing on Microsoft's part. It spreads the word in a very viral way.

Go here to see if there's a event near you! I am planning on attending the Miami, FL - IT Professional track.

Tough Times = Great Deals!

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:58:00 +0000

With a tough economy comes some desperate sellers. Electronics makers are dropping prices left and right. I noticed computer LCD widescreens are very affordable now with Dell offering up to 30% savings through the end of the week.

Check out this "green" 22" G2210 monitor which can save you up to $53 over your lifetime. I know, massive savings right!? It's not a lot but if everyone had one of these it'd be considerable energy savings for the planet. You also might consider going for a 24" monitor. It will give you larger screen real estate and allow you to watch full HD movies in 1080p. All for under $200!

Source: http://www.dell.com

Verizon Wireless is Great Except One Thing

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:31:00 +0000

I've been a fan of Verizon Wireless for over three years now. Coming from Sprint, it was a welcome change to not have dropped calls and static. Verizon Wireless has the following going for them:

Best coverage
Reliable network
Decent phones

I'm writing to warn potential customers about one thing though. Verizon Wireless has a side of anti-competitiveness and evil to them that is really irking me. I bought a BlackBerry 8830 World Edition about a year and a half ago. It is an amazing phone with a lot of great features. I'd highly recommend it to anyone. However, one feature that I bought and that was advertised to me is largely not available. That is fully working GPS. Even with my great smartphone, I am unable to use the built in GPS with third party apps like Google Maps. I bought a phone with a working GPS chip inside of it. I would think that is now my chip, right? That I should be able to use as I please since... I bought it? Nope! Verizon Wireless, cripples it. For almost 2 years, it would only work for 911 or if you paid $10/month for VZ Navigator service. Since then, they have released a firmware update that enables GPS for free, but only on the subpar BlackBerry Maps application. I am tired of the nickel and diming. If I don't see this issue resolved immediately, I will leave Verizon Wireless. It may just give me an excuse to look at the new iPhone.

Here's some links for many, many other frustrated customers:

I am curious to hear what you have done about this issue? Did you file a complaint? Did you leave Verizon Wireless? If so, what carrier and phone did you go to?

BlackBerry 4.5 Update Available to Verizon Wireless Customers

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:38:00 +0000

So you love your BlackBerry? Well, it's about to get a little better. For those of you who have the following models, this update is for you:

BlackBerry Curve
BlackBerry Pearl
BlackBerry 8800 Series
BlackBerry 8700 Series

There has been a variety of improvements in the latest update that is now available for virtually everyone.

Noticeable improvements

Improved look and feel; better contrasts (things just look better now)
BlackBerry Maps has decent local search based on GPS (this is especially important for those of you with Verizon who refuse to pay for VZ Navigator to use the GPS on your phone)
Music playlists!
Video recording (for those phones that support it)
Documents on the go (Word and PowerPoint viewing and editing)

Issues

One issue I had was that my icons would not stay where I wanted them after a reboot. Apparently this was because I was using the Today Plus theme and it simply does not work well with the 4.5 update. I went to the built in Today theme instead and have not had an issue. I only lose the 4 icons on the right. No big deal because I never used those anyway.

Download

Default link:

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/devices/

Link I used as a Verizon Wireless customer:

http://vzw.smithmicro.com/blackberry/

Internet Explorer 8 is Out!

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

The web browser is your eyes to the broad expanse that is the Internet. It is probably one of the most important tools in your information arsenal. But are you using the best web browser for you?

There are a multitude of web browsers currently on the market. The largest competitors include:

Microsoft Internet Explorer
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Apple Safari
Opera

I have been an avid Firefox user for years now. Upon downloading IE 8 and running IE 8 for the first time, I noticed that it is quite zippy. I am a big fan of performance so I did a little research and found this little video from Microsoft. It declares that IE 8 "one of the fastest browsers." The results from Microsoft show that IE 8 loads pages faster than Firefox on 3 times as many of the top 25 sites on the web. So it appears Microsoft is trying to be a contender in performance again. I suspect that it still lags behind in JavaScript rendering which is important on sites like GMail. But it appears IE 8 is faster on a lot of the sites we visit today: Google.com, Facebook, YouTube, Ask.com, and more.

Is it coincidence that IE loads Mozilla.com faster than Firefox and Firefox loads Microsoft.com faster than IE? You decide!

Aside from performance improvements, here are the new features in Internet Explorer 8:

Suggested Sites
InPrivate (Privacy mode)
Accelerators
Web slices
Autocomplete changes
SmartScreen Filter
Favorites bar
Automatic crash recovery
and more

Well, if you'd like to give it a shot, click the logo to the left. I will be trying it for the next couple weeks or so and may post my thoughts after that.

Speed Up Your 'Puter Tip #6: Clean Off Desktop

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:32:00 +0000

In this series, I will be providing valuable advice that you can use to speed up your computer.

Clean off your desktop! Storing files and generally cluttering up your desktop happens over time because you need to do something quickly. "Just save it to the desktop!" your buddy says. Just note that doing so still takes up disk space (located at: C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Username]\Desktop). So if you have hundreds of copies of files on your desktop that you don't need, you're taking up valuable disk space. Furthermore, it does take up a small amount of memory which can actually reduce performance for other tasks. Systems with less resources can display a noticeable slowdown with too many items on the desktop. If you have a slower computer and insist on having items on the desktop, I'd recommend using shortcuts pointing to the files you need rather than storing the files themselves on the desktop. Besides, don't you just love a cleaned and organized space?

I hope this helps. Stay tuned for more tips!

Why Twitter?

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Twitter is a social networking phenomenon that is sweeping the online community. It features the ability to post 140 character messages. You can do so from anywhere. You can "tweet" whether you're on a desktop computer, laptop, or even your mobile phone.

But why use it?

Even with frequent errors represented by the "fail whale" people still flock to tweet their lives away. But why?!

On a personal level, it's much easier to make a announcement on Twitter rather than calling or texting all your friends one by one. But then you may just be inundated with calls all at once - or more likely, you'll just get a lot of reply tweets. It's also easier to follow all of your friends' activities in one spot. You can even follow some of your favorite celebrities, news sites, you name it. I signed up in the first place to follow Dwight Howard's tweets. Now some celebrities clearly have assistants doing the tweets but others are very real.

On a business level, it's yet another communications avenue to get your message to your customers. It's almost as if businesses need to have a full-time person or even a small team to manage all of these new communications avenues: facebook, twitter, etc. But some say it's all too important as it provides an easy way for customers to interact and follow your brand in an already familiar website that they can trust.

On a higher level, it's just pretty dang cool to have the world's thought-stream at your fingertips. Viewing twitter's public timeline, you can view people's thoughts/comments on a real-time basis. Other sites such as twittervision make it visually appealing. Unless you protect your updates your posts are also on the public timeline.

So how much is twitter worth? Can the founders make money from this service? Just ask yourself one thing, how much is the world's thought-stream worth? Instant feedback about services, restaruants, websites, anything could be considered quite valuable. We shall see.

What are you doing? Follow us on Twitter.

Comment and tell us why you use Twitter!

Firefox 3 Releasing on Tuesday

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:24:00 +0000

See title! Be a part of download day and help set a world record!

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

Gmail Rolls Out Gmail Labs

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:59:00 +0000

You have to give it to the Gmail team. Although Gmail is still in beta, they are rolling out new features and capabilities left and right. Enter: Gmail Labs!

If you click "Settings" and go to the "Labs" tab, you'll see a slew of new options including:

Quick Links
Superstars
Pictures in chat
Custom keyboard shortcuts
Signature tweaks
Custom date formats
Games
and more

This area simply provides a platform for the Gmail team to gauge interest in new features while testing them out at the same time.

Keep up the good work Google!

Firefox 3 RC 2 Released!

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:06:00 +0000

The second Release Candidate of Firefox 3 has been made available to the public. It features bug fixes over RC1. The final code release date is still sometime in June. I can't wait! I'm a big performance guy and if I'm to believe the hype, my daily applications will run much faster with FF3.

Linkage: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.0rc2/releasenotes/

How to Delete Your Facebook Account

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:12:00 +0000

Overview

Facebook is a social networking service that allows you to share photos, comments, and other random oddities with friends. It is rumored that Facebook is trying to become an Operating System of sorts for the Internet. The idea is that the Facebook homepage will provide you with everything you need: Email, instant messaging, contacts, links to people you trust, etc.

This article discusses my reasons for removing my Facebook account and how I went about doing so. It's really easy.

"Why would you delete your FB account!?"

It is not useful to me
I want to reduce my Internet footprint for my personal information
It truly wasted my time!

How I deleted my account

I logged into my account and manually removed all information including:

Pictures
Groups
Friends
Comments
News feeds
Networks
Schools and other personal information

I changed my name
I changed my email address
I sent the following email to privacy@facebook.com from the newly changed email address:

To whom it may concern,

I'd like to have my account and all related information including history deleted from your servers and databases.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Within a couple days I received the following email:

Hi,

We have deleted your profile information and removed your email address from our login database. Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

That's all there is to it!

Leaked Windows 7 Screenshots!

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:07:00 +0000

Check 'em out!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/05/27/windows-7-screen-grabs-look-better-than-they-sound/

I personally like that they are trying several different approaches. But it's not just aesthetics, it's functionality. I would like to see an OS that integrates better with the Internet. I know it's against Microsoft's whole idea of an OS, but lets get away from constant formatting due to long-term performance degradation and turn more towards using the Internet's capabilities (e.g. storing files online, syncing tasks, calendar, email, etc. with your desktop). I realize this is extreme for some, but I think it'd go a long way towards avoiding regular formats. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and try Linux again.

Thanks CrunchGear!

Can't get an iPhone? Get a BlackBerry!

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:39:00 +0000

On Verizon Wireless? Then you are currently unable to purchase an iPhone. Don't fret! You can remain on the nation's best wireless network (opinion!) and still have a great phone. I'm writing to recommend the BlackBerry 8830 series. I used BlackBerry's in the past at work and I loved them. Instant access to the Internet, email, IM, games, etc. is great, but addictive. I learned quckly why it was called the "CrackBerry." I found myself constantly using it, at lunch, at red lights, you name it. I had to force myself to stay disconnected in certain situations.

With most carriers now, you get a "free" upgrade for your phone every 18 months or so. I put free in quotes because it's usually limited to around $150 and we all know the popular phones are much more than that. I decided to splurge for the 8830 (paid $100 out of pocket after the free upgrade) and here's what I get:

Email
IM
Task list
Memo pad
Pictures
Alarm (that I can set to weekdays only!)
RSS reader
Internet browser
Twitter app (TwitterBerry)
Full QWERTY keyboard (Typing on the Pearl sucks!)

Here's what you don't get:

Camera (I prefer to use my 5 MP camera anyway) - If you do want a camera in your phone, consider the Pearl or the Curve.

All in all, I absolutely LOVE this phone! It's a conversation piece but most importantly, it's extremely useful.

Info and reviews: http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/user_reviews.php?phone=1194

Friends on multiple IM networks?

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:52:00 +0000

If you're like me, you have friends that use AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, Google Talk, or others. If you're also like me, you don't like to have 5 million programs running on your computer at any given time. Multiple programs consume large chunks of your computer's memory slowing it down.

Enter Pidgin! Pidgin allows you to connect to friends no matter what network they are on. In other words, using one program, you can consolidate all your IM friends on one buddy list. Best of all, should you decide to use the network client (say, AIM) later, Pidgin will have stored the contacts you saved using Pidgin to the network's server.

All it requires is for you to sign up for an account on any network you have friends on. See image below for my setup. You can see that I have many accounts and it only takes up 15 MB of memory. Unreal!

Get pidgin here: www.pidgin.im

Mozilla Firefox 3 RC 1 is Out

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Firefox is a web browser that is quickly gaining market share. The Release Candidate is a public preview. It is only released for those that wish to test the browser and try out the new features. It may have annoying bugs! With that disclaimer out of the way, it will probably work just fine for the majority of us.

I'm really starting to like Mozilla because they are focusing on what the users want. Instead of bloating out the product, they are making it more usable and efficient. For example, thousands of us use Gmail for email. Due to Firefox's enhanced JavaScript speed, Gmail will run almost twice as fast in Firefox 3. Also, they are adding functionality to the address bar. You will be able to type in keywords that will search your bookmarks and the web. Lastly, they are making a lot of user experience improvements such as updated graphics, making certain features easier to use, etc.

Life is going to get that much better with the official release of Firefox 3 in June. Stay tuned!

Download the RC here or wait for the final version next month.

Pidgin Encryption

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Sat, 17 May 2008 18:49:00 +0000

My favorite Instant Messaging program is Pidgin. You can read my review of it here at ReviewHappy.com. It is a great program that works with multiple IM networks.

The purpose of this post is to tell you about a little known feature called "Pidgin Encryption." If you're not using this feature, you are sending plain text conversations across the wire and it is entirely possible someone is using a network sniffer to read those conversations. Start watching what you type to friends and co-workers. I bet you occasionally write things that you do not intend for others to read. This is where Pidgin Encryption comes in. Pidgin Encryption protects your conversations with a very secure RSA encryption algorithm. It lets you encrypt your conversations over multiple protocols (AIM, ICQ, MSN, etc.). The only requirement is that your friend has it too.

When Pidgin encryption is enabled and protecting your conversation, you'll see the following lock icon:

I have personally used a packet sniffer to prove that Pidgin encryption is actually working. Try it yourself! It's too cool!

Steps

1. Get Pidgin
2. Get Pidgin Encryption
3. Install them
4. In Pidgin, go to Tools, Plugins, and check Pidgin-Encryption (see below) and you're off and running!

The Beginning of an Era

info@ruttconsulting.com (Rutt Consulting, Ltd.) — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:45:00 +0000

Welcome to Rutt Consulting Articles! It is my goal to provide useful technical information on a semi-regular basis via this platform. Visit often, subscribe, and I hope you find this blog useful.